The invention relates to a signal processing method for a vehicle navigational system.
Vehicle navigational systems using various techniques and examples for application are mentioned, for example, in the publicationxe2x80x9cKraftfahrzeugtechnikxe2x80x9d 1993, Section Technology-Dictionary. A controlled communication for convoys for use with motor-vehicle navigational systems is described in the publication xe2x80x9cAutomobiltechnische Zeitschriftxe2x80x9d 90 (1988), pages 429-436.
A vehicle navigational system with a sensor fusion of radar sensor and video camera is known from a publication by E. Young et al. In IEE Colloquium onxe2x80x9cPrometheus and Drivexe2x80x9d (Digest No. 172), London, UK, 10.15.92. The radar sensor and video camera measurements are carried out independent of each other, and a common set of measurements and their probability distributions are subsequently created through data merging.
When using an image sensor arrangement, e.g. a video camera, with automatic image evaluation for detecting and classifying form, color, direction, aspect angle, etc. of interesting objects and the complexity of the observed scenery, the processing expenditure in an associated image evaluation system is very high.
It is the object of the present invention to specify a signal processing method for a vehicle navigational system, which supplies reliable environmental information with high efficiency.
This is achieved by a signal processing method for a vehicle navigational system having a radar arrangement and an image sensor arrangement which essentially monitor equal solid-angle regions, for which target parameters are respectively determined from the signals received from the radar arrangement and the image sensor arrangement, and wherein the determined target parameters from corresponding solid angle regions are linked through data merging, the method including the steps of creating reduced data sets and the resultant derived target parameters during the evaluation of the signals received from the radar and image sensor arrangements through a suitable linking of the data; specifying solid angle sections for the image evaluation during the evaluation of the signals received from the radar arrangements; and evaluating the signals received from the image sensor arrangement solely from these specified solid angle sections.
Advantageous embodiments and modifications of the invention will be described in the following description.